Cuba Gooding Jr.
Cuba Mark Gooding Jr. (born January 2, 1968) is an American actor. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Emmy nomination. He was born in Bronx, New York to Shirley, a singer with the Sweethearts, and Cuba Gooding, Sr., a lead vocalist of soul group The Main Ingredient. He has two brothers, musician Tommy Gooding and fellow actor Omar Gooding, and sister, April Gooding. His family moved to Los Angeles after Gooding Sr.'s music group had a hit single with "Everybody Plays the Fool" in 1972 but abandoned his family two years later. Gooding Jr. was raised by his mother and attended four different high schools: North Hollywood High School, Tustin High School, Apple Valley High School, and John F. Kennedy High School in Granada Hills in Los Angeles. He served as class president in three of them. His first job as a professional entertainer was as a break-dancer performing with singer Lionel Richie at the closing ceremonies of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. After high school, Gooding studied Japanese martial arts for three years, before turning his focus toward acting. Early on, he landed guest starring roles on shows like Hill Street Blues (1981) and MacGyver (1985). His first major role was in the John Singleton's box office surprise and critical hit Boyz n the Hood (1991). He followed this success with roles in major films like A Few Good Men (1992), Lightning Jack (1994), Outbreak (1995), Men of Honor (2000), Rat Race (2001), and The Fighting Temptations (2003) in which he co-starred alongside Beyoncé Knowles. In 1996, he was cast as an arrogant football player on the brink of a career-ending injury in Cameron Crowe's Jerry Maguire (1996). The film was a success and earned him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. His "Show Me The Money" line in the film became a nationwide catchphrase. In 1997, he had a notable supporting role in As Good As It Gets (1997). The next several years, his films were inconsistently successful; Boat Trip (2002), Norbit (2007), and Daddy Day Camp (2007), all of which had received extremely negative reviews and performed poorly at the box office. Gooding also starred in a film titled A Murder of Crows, which he co-produced with his long time friend and business partner Derek Broes. The film was Gooding's first attempt at producing. Since then, he has had series of starring roles in grittier films released direct-to-DVD such as the revenge dramas Hero Wanted and Wrong Turn at Tahoe, as well as the sci-fi action pic Hardwired and the action comedy Lies & Illusions. A well-received performance as Ben Carson in Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (2009) and a small supporting role in Ridley Scott's American Gangster (2007) both proved to be exceptions to this trend. An appearance in the World War II film, Red Tails, produced by George Lucas and with other prominent actors such as Terrence Howard, will mark his only return to the big screen since American Gangster.
Judgment Night
(Mike Peterson)
A Few Good Men
(Cpl. Carl Hammaker)
Boyz n the Hood
(Tré Styles)
Pearl Harbor
(Doris Miller)
Chill Factor
(Arlo)
Dirty
(Salim Adel)
For NYC
As Good as It Gets
(Frank Sachs)
The Weapon
(Blue)
American Gangster
(Nicky Barnes)
The Fighting Temptations
(Darrin Hill)
Lightning Jack
(Ben Doyle)
Hardwired
(Luke Gibson)
Outbreak
(Major Salt)
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story
(Ben Carson)
The Tuskegee Airmen
(Billy Roberts)
Lies & Illusions
(Isaac)
Men of Honor
(Senior Chief Carl Brashear)
A Dairy Tale
(Buck (voice))
Snow Dogs
(Ted Brooks)
Instinct
(Dr. Theo Caulder)
What Dreams May Come
(Albert Lewis)
Wrong Turn at Tahoe
(Joshua)
End Game
(Alex Thomas)
Norbit
(Deion Hughes)
Boat Trip
(Jerry Robinson)
What Love Is
(Tom)
Jerry Maguire
(Rod Tidwell)
Zoolander
(Cuba Gooding Jr.)
Rat Race
(Owen Templeton)
Shadowboxer
(Mikey)
Harold
(Cromer)
Losing Isaiah
(Eddie Hughes)
Home on the Range
(Buck (voice))
Radio
(Radio)
Daddy Day Camp
(Charlie Hinton)
Trading Favors
(Liquor Store Clerk)
Judgement
(Officer Alvarez)
Linewatch
(Michael Dixon)
Athena Saves Christmas
(Sheriff Jacobs)
The Way of War
(David Wolfe)
Gladiator
(Abraham Lincoln Haines)
Sing
(Stanley)
Hero Wanted
(Liam Case)
The Devil's Tomb
(Mack)
Daybreak
(Torch)
A Murder of Crows
(Lawson Russell)
Ticking Clock
(Lewis Hicks)
Red Tails
(Major Emanuelle Stance)
Sacrifice
(John Hebron)
The Hit List
(Jonas Arbor)
Firelight
(DJ)
Machete Kills
(El Camaleon)
One in the Chamber
(Ray Carver)
The Butler
(Carter Wilson)
Summoned
(Detective Callendar)
Life of a King
(Eugene Brown)
Absolute Deception
(John Nelson)
Don Jon
(Hollywood Actor #2)
The Firing Squad
(Samuel Wilson)
Freedom
(Samuel)
In the Shadows
(Draven)
Selma
(Fred Gray)
Skeletons in the Closet
(Andres)
Break the Cycle
Murder Without Motive: The Edmund Perry Story
(Tyree)
TMZ Presents: The Downfall of Diddy
(Self (archive footage))
2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift
(archival footage)
Guilty
(William 'Billy' Remz)
Timmy Muldoon and the Search for the Shadoweyes Bandit
(Shadoweyes)
Angels Fallen: Warriors of Peace
(Balthazar)
Quantum Supremacy
Double Victory: The Tuskegee Airmen at War
(Narrator (voice))
Life in a Year
(Xavier)
Welcome to Hollywood
(Cuba Gooding Jr.)
Coming to America
(Boy Getting Haircut)
Bayou Caviar
(Rodney Jones)
The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends
(Loofah (voice))
The Enduring Significance of 'Boyz n the Hood'
(Self)
Friendly Fire: Making of an Urban Legend
(Self)
Blown Away
(Bomb Squad Class Member)
America | A Tribute to Heroes
(Self)
Sesame Street
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
The Daily Show
(Self)
227
The View
(Self)
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Hill Street Blues
MacGyver
(Billy Colton)
Mancuso, F.B.I.
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
(Self - Guest)
MADtv
(Self)
The Bronx Zoo
The Untouchables
Lily Allen and Friends
(Self - Guest)
V Graham Norton
(Self)
Nasty Boys
(Poptop)
The Oscars
(Self)
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
(Self)
Saturday Night Live
(Self - Host)
The Book of Negroes
(Sam Fraunces)
American Crime Story
(O. J. Simpson)
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
(Self)
Big Time in Hollywood, Fl
(Cuba Gooding Jr.)
American Horror Story
(Dominic Banks / Matt Miller)
The Graham Norton Show
(Self)
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
(Self - Guest)
John Bishop: In Conversation With...
(Himself)
Entertainment Tonight
(Self)
MacGyver
(Ray Collins)
Conan
(Self)